scour

scour
\ \ [13] The notion of ‘cleaning’ implicit in scour evolved from an earlier ‘take care of’. For the word goes back ultimately to Latin cūrāre (source of English cure), which originally meant ‘take care of’, and only in medieval times came to mean ‘clean’. Combination with the prefix ex- ‘out’ produced excūrāreclean out’, which reached English via Old French escurer and Middle Dutch scūren. Scoursearch thoroughly’ [14] (as in ‘scour the countryside’) is a different word, and may come from Old Norse skýrarush in’.
\ \ Cf.CURE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Scour — (skour), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scoured}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Scouring}.] [Akin to LG. sch[ u]ren, D. schuren, schueren, G. scheuern, Dan. skure; Sw. skura; all possibly fr. LL. escurare, fr. L. ex + curare to take care. Cf. {Cure}.] 1. To rub hard… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • scour — [skauə US skaur] v [T] [Sense: 1; Date: 1400 1500; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language.] [Sense: 2 3; Date: 1100 1200; Origin: Probably from Middle Dutch schuren, from Old French escurer, from Late Latin excurare to clean off , from… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Scour — Scour, v. i. 1. To clean anything by rubbing. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To cleanse anything. [1913 Webster] Warm water is softer than cold, for it scoureth better. Bacon. [1913 Webster] 3. To be purged freely; to have a diarrh[oe]a. [1913 Webster]… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Scour — Scour, n. 1. Diarrh[oe]a or dysentery among cattle. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of scouring. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] 3. A place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a stream below a fall. If you catch the two sole denizens [trout] of a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • scour — skau̇(ə)r vi of a domestic animal to suffer from diarrhea or dysentery <a diet causing cattle to scour> scour n diarrhea or dysentery occurring esp. in young domestic animals usu. used in pl. but sing. or pl. in constr …   Medical dictionary

  • scour — scour·ing; scour; scour·er; …   English syllables

  • scour — Ⅰ. scour [1] ► VERB 1) clean or brighten by vigorous rubbing with an abrasive or detergent. 2) (of running water) erode (a channel or pool). ► NOUN 1) the action of scouring or the state of being scoured. 2) (also scours) diarrh …   English terms dictionary

  • scour — [ skaur ] verb transitive 1. ) to search a place or document thoroughly for something: scour something for something: Jake scoured auction sales for the furniture they needed. 2. ) to clean something thoroughly by rubbing it hard with something… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • scour — [v1] clean, polish thoroughly abrade, brush, buff, burnish, cleanse, flush, furbish, mop, pumice, purge, rub, sand, scrub, wash, whiten; concept 165 Ant. dirty, rust scour [v2] search thoroughly beat, comb, ferret out, find, forage, go over with… …   New thesaurus

  • scour — scour1 [skour] vt. [ME scouren < MDu scuren < ? OFr escurer < VL * excurare, to take great care of < L ex , intens. + curare, to take care of < cura, care] 1. to clean or polish by vigorous rubbing, as with abrasives, soap and… …   English World dictionary

  • scour — index decontaminate, frisk, perambulate, purge (purify), search Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

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